Disintegrating machine



Sept. 22, 1970 A. J. LIEBMAN I 7 3,529,782

DISINTEGRA'IING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ARNO J. LIEBMAN.

Sept? 1970 A. J. LIEBMAN 3,529,782

DISINTEGRA'I'ING MACHINE Filed Feb. 13, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ARM 0. LIEBMAN.

United States Patent M 3,529,782 DISINTEGRATIN G MACHINE Arno J. Liebman, Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pa. (142 McKnight Circle, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15251) Filed Feb. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 615,488 Int. Cl. B02c 18/06 US. Cl. 241190 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A disintegrating machine of the type having overlapping, cooperating primary feed and disintegrating rotors and an auxiliary feed roll rotatable counter to the primary feed rotor for biasing material into support engagement with the feed rotor.

The present invention relates to a disintegrating apparatus and methods for feeding material in such apparatus With the apparatus including an elongated feed rotor means having a plurality of axially spaced support surfaces thereon; means for biasing material into supporting engagement with at least one of the support surfaces; and elongated disintegrating rotor means for disintegrating material subsequent to the engagement of such material with the support surfaces. The method of feed material of the present invention includes the steps of directing material toward a rotating feed rotor having axially spaced material supporting surfaces; engaging the material before it reaches the feed rotor; biasing the material into supporting engagement with at least one support surface of the feed rotor; and carrying the material while biased on the feed rotor toward a disintegrating rotor rotating counter to and at a higher speed than the feed rotor.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view partly in section of an improved material disintegrating machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the lines 2--2 of FIG. 1 showing further details of construction;

FIG. 3 is partial side elevation view of the machine of FIG. 1 showing elements for a modification of the present invention.

A disintegrating machine constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention includes four spaced upright structural members 12 suitably adapted at the lower portions thereof to stably support the disintegrating machine 10 on a level surface. The support members 12 are further stabilized by four oppositely arranged, horizontal upper and lower struts 13a and 13b fixedly disposed in vertically spaced relationship intermediate the lengths of support members 12. The support members 12 have fixed thereto at their upper portions an enclosure 14 having a longitudinal axis lying in a horizontal plane and extending from left to right as viewed in FIG. 1. Enclosure 14 includes an upper portion 15 and a lower portion 16 suitably fixed to the support members 12. The bottom portion 18 of the lower portion 16 is inclined downwardly to an opening 19 for discharging material therefrom. At one end of the enclosure 14, namely, the right hand end as viewed in FIG. 1, a laterally extending elongated inlet opening 20 is suitably arranged between the upper portion 15 and the lower portion 16. An optional discharge opening 22 is provided at the left hand end of the enclosure 14 and specifically in the lower portion 16 thereof. A suitable cover 23 is suitably pivotably mounted on lower portion 16 to close discharge opening 22.

Two elongated rollers 26 and 28 for frictionally engaging and feeding material are suitably, rotatably arranged between the side walls of the enclosure 14 with their axes extending transversely of enclosure 14 and lying in a common generally vertical plane disposed inwardly of the inlet opening 20 at the right side of the enclosure 14. The rollers 26 and 28 are suitably arranged in bearings supported at either side of the enclosure 14 with the rollers being vertically spaced to define a clearance therebetween of a suitable dimension for receiving and frictionally engaging sheet material or the like through the inlet opening 20. Two laterally spaced, downwardly extending adjustable compression springs 30 supported by the top of enclosure 14 are arranged on either end of the upper roller 26 on the bearings thereof for applying pressure on the roller 26. The compression of the springs 30 may be varied by turning the set screws 31 in the direction desired. An electrical motor 32 supported on a pad 34 fixed to the enclosure 14 and right hand support members 12, is coupled to the rollers 26 and 28 through pulleys and belts to counterrotate the rollers 26 and 28 at the same speed with respect to each other.

Two endless belts 36 and 38 are disposed inwardly of the rollers 26 and 28, the belts converging inwardly with respect to one another. The lower belt 38 is supported on rollers 39 and 40 suitably transversely arranged between the sides of the enclosure 14 with the center lines of the rollers 39 and 40 lying in a common, substantially horizontal plane in a position relative to the sides of the enclosure 14 such that the upper or conveying traverse 41 of the belt 38 lies substantially in the same horizontal plane as does the uppermost point of the lower roller 28. By this arrangement any sheet like material inserted into the enclosure 14 through the inlet opening 20 will be carried between the rollers 26 and 28 and onto the upper traverse 41 of endless belt 38. The upper belt 36 is suitably arranged on rollers 43 and 44 the center lines of which are in a common plane forming an acute angle to the horizontal so that the upper belt 36 is closer to the lower belt 38 at the innermost turn-around thereof than at the turn-around closest to the inlet opening 20. This arrangement of the belts 36 and 38 serves to guide any sheet like material inwardly of the enclosure 14. The belts 36 and 38 are moved in the same direction with respect to each other, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1 and at substantially the same speed as rollers 26 and 28, by motor 32 through a suitably coupled pulley and belt arrangement.

The narrow space between the inward ends, that is, the discharge end, of the belts 36 and 38 is suitably located above a feed rotor designated generally as 46 for feeding material onto such feed rotor 46. The feed rotor 46 com prises an elongated shaft 47 extending transversely of the enclosure 14 and suitably supported in bearings 48 suitably mounted on lower struts 13b at opposite sides of the enclosure 14. A series of disks 50 having peripherally spaced teeth 51 thereabout are uniformly laterally spaced longitudinally on the shaft 47. The spacing between the disks 50 are suitably arranged and sized to suit a desired condition determined by the type of material to be disintegrated.

The shaft 47 of the feed rotor 46 is suitably coupled through a pulley and belt arrangement to motor 32 to be rotated in a counter clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 1. Feed rotor 46 is rotated at a relatively low speed, typically about 5 to r.p.m., but this may vary according to the size of fragments desired. The speed of the belts 36 and 38 are generally about 10% less than the linear speed of the teeth 51 of the disks 50 of feed drum 46. This speed difierential will cause material engaged by teeth 51 (Le, sheet like material) to be drawn under tension.

An elongated disintegrator rotor generally designated as 54 is transversely arranged with respect to the enclosure 14 inwardly of and above feed rotor 46. The disintegrator rotor 54 comprises an elongated shaft 55 suitably mounted in bearings 56 suitably mounted on upper struts 13a at opposite sides of the enclosure 14. A series of disks 58 are fixed to and laterally spaced longitudinally on shaft 55. Each disk 58 has two oppositely disposed radially extending projections 59 thereon. The projections 59 serve as hammers for acting on material to disintegrate it. The disks 58 are arranged with respect to one another so that the projections '59 are generally serpentine along the shaft 55. The lateral spacing of the disks 58 are arranged so that disks 58 pass between adjacent disks 50 of the feed rotor 46. The respective circles of revolution along the radial length of the projections 59 and the teeth 51 overlap. This overlapping of the circles of revolution should be such that the projections 59 extend to at least the root between the teeth 51. The expression overlap as used herein should be understood to mean the intersection of the circles of revolution of respective sets of teeth or projections (typically as illustrated) without the teeth or projections of such sets contacting each other when the sets are being separately rotated. (It should be noted that under certain circumstances the teeth or projections could contact each other, but only where they cooperate so that one of the sets of teeth or projections imparts a driving force to the other of the sets of teeth or projections. This will become apparent hereinafter.)

The disintegrator rotor 54 rotates at relatively high peripheral speed as compared to the feed rotor 46. A motor 60 suitably supported on a pad 61 suitably fixed to the left side of enclosure 14 is suitably coupled to the shaft 55 of the disintegrator drum 54 through a pulley and belt arrangement. The speed of rotation of the disintegrator rotor 54 is typically about 2250 r.p.m., but this may be varied to suit a desired disintegrating condition, controlled by the type of material to be disintegrated. The reason for this great speed differential between the disintegrator rotor 54 and feed rotor 46 is set forth in detail in co-pending application Ser. No. 534,506 now US. Pat. 3,396,5 14.

An elongated auxiliary feed roll 64 extending transversely of enclosure 14 as illustrated is arranged above the feed rotor 46 and slightly rearwardly thereof toward the inlet opening 20. The auxiliary feed roll 64 comprises a transversely extending generally cylindrical elongated shaft 65 suitably rotatably carried by bearings 66 suitably arranged on upper struts 13a at opposite sides of the enclosure 14. A plurality of rigid ribs 67 (eight illustrated) extend radially outwardly from and longitudinally of the shaft 65 in uniform angularly spaced relationship (45 as illustrated) with respect to one another. The center line of the shaft 65 is arranged with respect to the center line of the feed rotor 46 in such a manner, and the ribs 67 are of such a radial length, that ribs 67 overlap with the teeth 51 of disks 50 to about the mid point of the radial length of teeth 51. The radial length of the ribs 67 are of a suitable length so that any material fed into the enclosure 14 and carried forwardly by the belts 36 and 38 is engaged by the ribs 67 as the material is discharged through the space between the belts 36 and 38. The shaft 65 is coupled with motor 32 through a pulley and belt arrangement to rotate counter to and isochronously (i.e., uniformity of rate, and specifically uniformity of the linear speeds of the fins 67 and teeth 51) with the feed rotor 46. By so rotating, the ribs 67 of the auxiliary feed roll 64 will engage a portion B of sheet material A and bias that same portion B to distort it and urge it forwardly toward the feed rotor 46, and since the ribs 67 overlap with the teeth 51, that portion B of material A will be biased and deformed in between the teeth 51. The portion B of material A being held under tension on the teeth 51 of feed rotor 46 by the ribs 67 will then be carried by the teeth 51 in the direction of the disintegrator rotor 54. The biasing of the portion B of material A by the ribs 67 is released just prior to the initial impact of an impacting tooth 59 with the portion B. Subsequent portions of material A will be acted upon as just described and the material A disintegrated into distinct, substantially uniform pieces in the manner set forth in co-pending application Ser. No. 534,506.

It should be understood the shape of the auxiliary feed roll 64 is independent of any desirable variations of the other elements of this integrating machine 10. For example, the projections of hammers 59 of the disintegrator rotor could be replaced with radially outwardly extending pivotally mounted hammers without changing the characteristics of the auxiliary feed roll 64. i

It should be further noted that certain material, such as paper cartons, small cans, hosing and the like, does not require tensioning on the feed rotor 46 in order to be efficiently disintegrated and in such cases the auxiliary feed roll 64 of the present invention would not require the converging belt arrangement of belts 36 and 38. For example, a chute could be arranged relative to the auxiliary feed roll 64 and feed rotor 46 for feeding material by gravity in between the auxiliary feed roll 64 and feed rotor 46. The results would be the same.

It should be also noted in the above description that due to the speed differential between the belts 36 and 38 and feed rotor 46 the auxiliary feed roll 64 causes the material being fed into the disintegrator to be placed in tension on the feed rotor 46. This is particularly desirable for certain materials, such as sheet material, for achieving disintegration of that material into distinct, substantially uniform pieces. This tensioning of the material on the feed rotor 46 will insure that the disintegrator drum 54 will efficiently shear the material by its projections or hammers 59 (in the manner set forth in copending application Ser. No. 534,506). Due to its ability to assist the tensioning of the material on the feed rotor 46 by holding the material in between the teeth 51, the

auxiliary feed roll 64 provides positive advantages especially when used with material which would resist being impaled on the teeth 51 of feed rotor 46, such as sheet metal, rubbery material or the like. Furthermore, the auxiliary feed roll 64 is also effective with material which does not require tensioning on the teeth 51 of the feed rotor 46, such as material having a cross-sectional dimension less than the spacing 'between the disks 50 of the feed rotor 46. In this case the ribs 67 of the auxiliary feed roll 64 will engage such narrow material and force it in between the disks 50 so that this material will be wedged and held between the disks 50 and thus acted upon efficiently by the projections or hammers 59 of the disintegrator rotor 54. It might also be noted that where such narrow material is concerned the elongated ribs 67 could be replaced with axially spaced disks arranged to run in overlapping fashion in between the disks 5 0 of feed rotor 46.

Although the shaft 65 of the auxiliary feed roll 64 is described above as being fixed against vertical movement in bearings 66, it should be noted that a floating arrangement of shaft 65 can be provided. A typical floating arrangement is partially shown in FIG. 3. In this view, shaft 65 is suitably supported in bearings 70 ,(one of which is shown) disposed at an acute angle to the vertical on opposite sides of enclosure 14. The bearing 70 includes a lower portion 70a, suitably fixed to enclosure 14, and an upper portion 70b, slidably supported between oppositely arranged guide brackets 72 and 74. Guide brackets '72 and 74 are fixed with respect to enclosure 14. An elongated, upwardly extending threaded shaft 76 and is threadedly arranged at the lower end thereof in an opening (not shown) in the upper portion 70a of bearing 70. The shaft 76 has its longitudinal axis pitched at the same angle as the bearing 70. The shaft 76 is held fixed with respect to upper portion 70a by a nut and washer unit 77. A cup-like hollow housing 78 having an open lower end and a closed upper end is suitably fixed at its upper end to an intermediate portion of the shaft 76. A pair of nuts 79 and 80 is disposed on the shaft near the lower end of the housing 78. A coil spring 82 in compression surrounds the portion of shaft 76 within housing 78 and is suitably fixed between the inner upper end of the housing 78 and the nut 79. A generally horizontal support member 84 is fixed to the enclosure 14 above the housing 78, and the upper portion of shaft 76 extends through an opening (not shown) therethrough. A pair of nuts 85 and 86 are threaded at the upper end portion of the shaft 76. A bushing 87 having a central opening therethrough is slidably disposed on shaft 76 between nut 86 and support member 84 and has a bevelled lower end in abutment with support member 84. By this floating arrangement sheet-like materials of varying thickness can be accommodated by the auxiliary feed roll 64. For example, auxiliary feed roll 64 could be arranged to act on a sheet material of known characteristics and thickness to urge such material in between disks 50 to a known depth. Further, in this example, the material could be sheet resilient rubber-like material. It should be noted parenthetically, that resilient, rubber-like material is best disintegrated with a typical disintegrating machine by urging it relatively deeply between disks 50 to insure impaling on teeth 51. Back to the example, if a thicker sheet material were then fed into disintegrating machine 10, the auxiliary feed roll 64 would be urged upwardly against the spring 82, thus preventing damage to feed roll 64 while at the same time providing the proper depth of interposing between disks 50 for such thicker material.

It should be further noted with respect to the floating arrangement described, that the vertical position of the auxiliary feed roll 64 can be adjusted by suitably turning the nuts on shaft 76 in the desired direction. The auxiliary feed roll 64 of FIGS. 1 and 2, although described as fixed in a horizontal plane, can also be readily adjusted in its vertical position by shimming the bearings 66 as desired, or in any other suitable manner.

The radial length of ribs 67 was described as being of a length to engage and bias a material to about the mid point of the radial length of teeth 51. This radial length of ribs 67 can be changed to give a shallower or deeper urging on material, as desired. It has been found that rubbery and light weight material requires deeper urging while heavier weight material can be efiiciently disintegrated with a shallow urging or by merely holding such heavier weight material on the teeth 51 without any significant distorting thereof.

Although the auxiliary feed roll 64 has been described as being separately driven isochronously with feed rotor 46, this does not have to be the case. The auxiliary feed roll 64, can be mounted to rotate freely, and in a manner to be given a driving force by the feed rotor 46 through the teeth 51 thereof engaging the ribs 67 of the auxiliary feed roll 46. An isochronous relationship between the feed roll 64 and feed rotor 46 will still exist. It has been found that such a free rotating arrangement of the auxiliary feed roll 64 performs very effectively with newspapers, magazines, and such like materials. This free rotating variation applies to the parenthetical notation made previously with regard to the definition of overlap as used herein.

In all of the various arrangements set forth above the results are always the samethe particular material to be disintegrated is engaged by the projections or ribs 67 of the auxiliary feed roll 64 and urged toward and held on the feed rotor to be carried toward the disintegrator rotor. Accordingly, the number of ribs 67 illustrated, and the overall orientation of the auxiliary feed roll 46 with respect to the feed rotor 46, can be readily varied as to number and position respectively, so long as the above function results.

What I claim is:

1. A method for feeding material in a disintegrating apparatus for being disintegrated therein, including the steps of directing material toward a rotating feed rotor having axially spaced material supporting surfaces; engaging the material before it reaches the feed rotor; biasing the material into supporting engagement with at least one support surface of the feed rotor; moving the material while in contact with said surfaces of the feed rotor into engagement with a disintegrating rotor rotating at a higher peripheral speed than the feed rotor; impacting the material a plurality of times while on the feed rotor.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 including the step of releasing the biasing force on a part of the material just prior to contact of that part of the material by a disintegrating rotor.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said engaging and biasing is by radially extending projections mounted on a rotating shaft mounted parallel to the feed rotor.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 including the additional step of regulating the biasing of at least a part of the material in proportion to the relative thickness and hardness of different materials.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 426,217 4/ 1890 Russell 241-243 X 1,197,370 9/1916 Helm. 1,891,245 12/1932 Sarvay 241222 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,452,686 8/1966 France.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner M. G. RASKIN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 241-223, 236 

